Jason Taylor: "I'll be there"

Jets defensive end Jason Taylor suffered an elbow injury during yesterday's 28-14 win over the Patriots, and aggravated it on his fourth-quarter sack/forced fumble on quarterback Tom Brady.

Taylor walked off the field with his left arm motionless, making you wonder if he'd be able to play in this week's long-awaited showdown against his former team, the Miami Dolphins.

I asked Taylor what his gut feeling was about playing next week, and he replied: "I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine." Then he added, "I have no doubt I’ll be fine."

Sounds like there's no way he's missing this one. After spending his entire career with the Dolphins, the team elected not to re-sign him in the off-season. Taylor then signed a two-year deal with the Jets, a team he had regularly chided during his run with Miami. Taylor, 36, also took several digs at Jets fans in recent years.

Until now, Taylor has prohibited those around him from talking about this week's game.

"I know we play them, but I haven’t talked about it, I wouldn’t let my wife talk about it, and I wouldn’t let my friends talk to me about it," Taylor said. "I’ve been very focused on Baltimore last week and New England this week. This was a very big win for us. We understand Miami won and they're 2-0. As far as the thoughts and the emotions and all that stuff with Miami is concerned, I guess that will start tonight after I enjoy this win."

Taylor admits it will be emotional.

"This is a strange spot for me," he said. "I've never had to do it before, but I’ll handle it professionally. There will be emotions there. Anybody tells you there won’t be is not being truthful. So at the end of the day, I know what we need to do and I know what this team needs me to do, so when the time is right, I’ll separate that and get down to business."